SEWmuchKNITting

The summer of 2015 was one of wedding preparations in our house, anticipating our daughter Kristen's August wedding to her fiance Brett. Knowing that making a wedding dress was far outside of my skills set, I offered to make Kristen's rehearsal dinner dress....and she agreed! What fun for the Mother-of-the-Bride! I chose four different dress patterns that I thought might work with the Bride's wishes, and she liked  McCall's 6741 , View B. There is a lot to like about this design: it's a contemporary silhouette, it's lined....and it has pockets! Using an ivory ponte as the base fabric, I found this lovely lace from JoAnn Fabrics in my stash to place as an overlay on the side panels.  We both loved the fit and flare: A big Thank you goes out to the sewing goddesses who were looking out for me, a perfect invisible zipper on the first try! Those useful pockets are tucked into the princess seams....love that! ...

July 2015 found me knitting away on a Wedding Shawl, for my daughter Kristen, for her wedding in August 2015. I had been saving this pattern to knit for her:  Haruni by designer Emily Ross, as I knew Kristen would love the vintage style of this design. I also knew that I would love knitting it! The beautiful floral border was perfect for the addition of the small, clear beads that I love to add to wedding shawls. And the easily memorized pattern gave me the opportunity to fill the knitting with loving thoughts and prayers for the Bride and her Groom.                        Look closely, and you can see the beads placed along the spines, easy to add                                          to the stitch (before knitting it) with a crochet hook:                ...

Back in May 2015, I was happily knitting along on a wedding shawl for my daughter-in-law to be. I love knitting wedding shawls, and knit the stitches with love and prayers for a happy future for the Bride and her Groom. For Cassie, I chose the pattern  Calais by Judy Marples. Adding beads to wedding shawls make them extra special, and this pattern afforded me that opportunity with the beautiful eyelet border, where I was able to place clear beads along the knitted spines.  I choose to gift the shawls to the Brides at their Bachelorette party, I know....not your usual Bachelorette gift! But I think when you see her smile that the Bride loved it:

Catching up with my summer sewing, next is my Mother of the Groom dress, worn to our son's wedding in June. Trust me, there are not a lot of choices for floor-length Mother of the Bride -or- Groom dresses in either RTW or sewing patterns, but  Butterick 5987  looked interesting. Initially, I considered View A, a cross-front halter top, similar to one that I liked from Nordstrom. I paid a visit to Haberman Fabrics , and purchased this lovely light blue poly georgette. In a brief moment of sanity, I decided I should muslin the bodice and thank the sewing goddesses I did....View A looked awful! But I wasn't too concerned, as I did like View C: the one shoulder....a style I had never worn. Below are pics of the bodice, which went together very nicely. This time I went straight to fabric without the muslin. Below are bathroom shots of the dress basted together. It was here that I could clearly see that this dress needed a waist stay. Instead of the three layers...

Hello There!!!! I've been absent from the blog for several months, I know.....it's been a busy year for our family! We have had 3 of our 4 kids get married this year...quite a year! I did do quite a bit of sewing since I last posted in the Spring, so let's get caught up...starting with the dress I made for our son's rehearsal and dinner. I really like the Amazing Fit line of patterns that Simplicity puts out. Using my usual set of alterations, along with the accommodations that Simplicity puts in with seaming and dart placement, I usually end up with a successful project. With that knowledge, I grabbed Simplicity 0593 out of my pattern collection, which I am sorry to say is out of print.  This very vibrant stretch cotton sateen came out of my stash. I have been hoarding it for several years, waiting for the right project. Below is the dress on my dress form, basted together. My usual alterations were needed: FBA, length added to the bodice and to the sk...

Week 3 was a busy week for me: 2 weeks away from my son's wedding! All our kids were home for the Memorial Day Weekend, when the Bachelor/Bachelorette parties were also scheduled for that Saturday. That explains the fall off of my pledge of 5 Me-Made garments/week. Oh well. Butterick 6028: Katharine Tilton pants (not yet blogged) seen here  in gray last week Hand-knit (7/2010): Broken Rib Tank Those pants again! worn clubbing with my sister-in-law Lois to celebrate the Bachelorette and her "sail before the veil": Cassie and the Moms Another busy week ahead, but I should make my 5 garment pledge....we'll see!

Week 2 of Me-Made-May 2015: I find I do wear the things I make, I'm just not used to taking pictures of myself this much LOL!   In no particular order:                       Simplicity 2345  (me and my Mom: Shirley on Mother's Day       Butterick 6028  (not blogged yet, a test garment to try a Katharine Tilton pants pattern)             Simplicity 2648  (hands down one of my favorite patterns)        McCalls 1318  (can you tell by the look on my facr that's is almost time for the end of a work week?!?)      Simplicity 4076 (not blogged, pattern is discontinued, not a favorite, but easy to wear)